Illuminated sign.



H..MULH0LLAND & o. G. WEST.

ILLUMINATED SIGN.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 20, 1910.

1,039,175, l Patented sept.24,1912.

VUlti 1TH@ STATES'PATENT OFFCE.

i HUGH MULHOLLANID, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.. AND CHARLES G. WEST, OF GREENWICH. CONNECTTCUT, ASSIG-NORS, '.BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO GEORGE M. yPO'iWlI-illi, OF

NEW "iR-1f. Y.

ILLUMINATED SIGN;

T 0 all whom z't'moy cocerf/zy and (brumes G. WEST, both citizens of the United States, and residents, respectively, ot' the city of New York, borough oi 'll'lanhab tan, in the county and State ot' New York, and of Greenwich, in the county of Fairticld and State ot Connecticut., have invented a new and ln'iproved lllui'ninated ,Sigia of which the following' is a t'ull, cleaiyand exact description.

This invention .relates to certain improvements in illuminated signs of that type iu which there is employed a casing lllum'inated upon the interior and having a wall provided with perforations or apertures arranged to form the letters, numerals or designs, and through which the light from vthe interior of the casing may pass. 4

The object of our invention is to form a sign oi this character in which the several letters, ruimerals or designs constituting the sign, will be separate and independent so that the same units may be assembled to .toi-m various ditl'ercnt signs. In our imiHRwed-conmiction `the units a re removable 4i'rom the trame or support, and, furthermore, the face or letter-'forming wall of each unit is ren'iovable, so that in .:hanging the sign, only the faces o'lE the units need he exchanged instead of the whole unit.

OLrr l improved construction embodies many features of importance which Will be pointedV outV niore`particularly hereinafter.

tc'terence is to be had to the accompanying;r thawings. forming a part of this specification, in which similar' characters oit reference indicate correspondingf parts in all the figures, and in which liigure 1 is a. .front view of a sign constructed in accordance with our invention; Fig. i2 is a transverse vertical sec-tion through the sign; Fig. 3 is a vertical section through a unit, the 'l'ace wall of the unit being` partially removed; Fig', 4 is a rear view of the unit: and Fig'. 5 is a vertical section through a slightly modified form o'f unit.

In the preferred form of our improved construction, each uriit'is inthe form of a casing having 'means for illuminatingr the interior thereof, and having a :tace wall provided with apertures arranged to form the letter, and through which the lightnlay shine.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application led August 20, 1910.

. atented Sept. 24, 1912.

Serial No. 578,120.

'ldal 'or conical chamber 1Q, which is mtcriorly illuminated in any suitable manner. As shown, an lncaiulescent electric. light Vbulb 13 is mounted at the a )ex of the chamher, although it is evident that other form of illumination might be employed, or that the illuminatingmeans might be supported at other points than the apex of the chamlwr.

By placingT the electric light bulb at the apex, and by forming the inner'suriaces ot the walls 1l with a retlectinir coating, the light rays from the lamp 13 will be reflected forwardly toward the opening' in the trame.

In connection with the walls 11 and frame 10 of the casing, we employ a Front wall 14,

preferably in the form of sheet metal and adapted lo engage with thei'ront side ot' the fratrie to close the chamber. This front, wall has a series of apertures therein arranged to form a letter, numeral or design, and each aperture supports a torwardlyrxtending' bulb or tube 15 simulating a small electric light bulb. These bulbs are pre'tf crably hollow and the light .from the interior of the casingr shines through cach of them in substantially equal amounts. The bulbs may, if desired, be constructed as illustrated in our prior Patent No. 1,004,585 granted October 3, '1911. In case bulbs oi the character defined in saidapplicatiou are employed, each bulb may carry-its own color disk, so that anydesired color effect may be verging walls 11. Between this colored` Screen loit gelatin and the electric light 13, there is employed a sheet 17 of mica, which protects the gelatin from the heat ot' the lamp, so that the gelatin cannot readily catch fire, and it serves as a flexible transparent reinforcing member for holding, the

From the.'

gelatin in position. The front wall '14 may be held in place in any suitable manner, but is preferably so mounted that it may be readily detached and replaced by another wall having a difl'erent letter or design' thereon. Asl shown,'the`ront wall la en-l ftd gages with the front' side of the framefand is bent to form a groove'or pocket 18 along its upper edge which receives the upper edge i oi" theframe. From this groove the terminal portion of the plateis' Dent downwardly and rearwardly to form a flange .19 for engaging with' the upper side of the top rear wa l ll. By forming the upper portion of the plate in /tliis manner, rain and dust are edectively prevented from gaining access to the interior of the easing, particularly adjacent the upper edge of the gelatin. The lower edge orthe plate is preferably provided withl a short rearwardly-extending. iiangeQ() for engagement beneath the lower edge ofthe frame l0. The unit when so constructed may be supported in various di'erentv ways and combined with other units t make u a sign.n A simple form of support is that illustrated' in Figs. l and 2.

.This support is in the form oie a trame having substantially parallel top and bottom members 2l and 22 in the form of channel members .having their grooves o 'posed to These channel mem rs may be held rigid in respect to each otherl by vertical bars 23, secured to the front sides of the channels. The channels are each of such width that they may receive the edges of. the units and etlectively hold -the latter.

The units may be moved into position lengthwise, by sliding them Ialong t e channels to the proper position, andt e' channels will serve not only to` sdstain th'e weight of the units, but will also prevent them from tiltinrf or being otherwise' displaced. ,The

fram )10 ofeachnnitpreferably has depend ng ,ugs ory ertensio'ns 24 at its lower corners, and similar upwardly-extending projections 25 at its upper corners, between which ilthe front face is held to prevent lateral displacement of the latter. These extensions .or pro'ections serve to sustain the rearportion o the unit, that is,- the casing pro er independent of the front wall 14. lt is, o course, understood that the formation of the rear walls of the casing is not important, as said walls may extend rearwardly from the front to form a chamber of any desired shape. i

In Fig. 5, we have illustrated a casing in which there is a'front frame 10, similar to that above described, but in which the rear casing has a back wall 1l parallel tothe frame, av downwardly-inclined top wall 11b, a horizontal bottom wall l1, and side walls 11d. An incandescent' electric light 13a may be supported from the bottom wall 11C,.and mirrors 2G may be secured to the inner sur- `walls carried by said second claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent: 1

1, An illuminated sign including a frame hav'no niesloii units slidable along said 'ra1ne and cach having a front frame' provided withl upwardly and downwardly-extending `projections adapted toenter the grooves of sai channels, rearwardly-extending converging rame, means illuminating the interior of the unit, a front wall having its upper and lower edges adapted to enter within said channel members between said projections, and havin its upper edge provided with. a depen ing liange overlapping a portion ot the upper rear wall of the unit, acolor screen adjacent the -inner surface of'said front wall, and a plurality or transparent bulbs carried by saldi/ront wall and arranged to form the display matter.

2.' An illuminated sign including a 'frame havin Aopposed channel members and a series o units slidable along said frame, each of said units having a front frame theoupper and lower edges, of which extend into said channel members, rearwardly extending walls carried by said second frame, means for'illuminating interior of the unit, a front wall having' its upper and lower edges'adapted to enter within said channel members so as to be retainedin engagement with vits respective unit by said irst `mentioned frame, said front frame and said trontwall having interengaging connec- -tions independent .of the ltiret mentioned frame for preventing relative slidingniovement ofsaid front frame andsaid front wall, and a plurality of transparent bulbs carried by said front wall, and arranged to form the display matter.;

3. ,ln illuminated sign including a frame having upper and lower opposed channel members, andconnecting `members permanently secured thereto for holding said channel members rigid in respect to each other,l and a plurality of units independent of each 'other and independent of said frame, but supported thereby and free to slide along the. same, each of said units including a casing, having a 'lront frame 'for sliding engagement with said main frame, rearwardly extending walls carried by such seco-nd frame, a front wall dcl'achably carried by said second l'rame and held in engagement therewith hy said main traine,

opposed channel members, and a se said front wall having apertures to form the sign, and independent means for illuminating the interior of each unit. l

4. An illuminating sign-including a frame having parallel upper and lower members and connecting members permanently secured thereto for holding them rigid in respect to each other, and a plurality of units, each including a casing having an apertured front wall, and rojections on said casing for engaging with the upper and lower members of said frame, and permitting of the sliding of the units along the frame, said front wall being secured between said projections, so as to slide with the unit but 15 freely removable lfrom the remainder of the unit upon the removal of the unit from the frame.

In testimony whereof we have signed our lnames to this. specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

HUGH MULHOLLAND CHARLES G. WEST. Witnesses:

JAMES LESLIE PxNKs, ALFRED S'rEoiiLn, Jr.

Copies of this patent may be htained for ve cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner f Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

